The present invention relates to a device composed of a plurality of individual parts especially designed to allow the formation of costal prostheses, by combination thereof when required, said prostheses being adapted to the shape of the thorax of any accident victim.
Whenever an accident victim has a fracture of one or more ribs, it is necessary, for the lungs to be protected and for them to be able to continue functioning, to reestablish the thoracic cage by restoring thereto a shape which is as close as possible to its natural shape.
To this end, it has already been proposed to use metallic elements made of suitable alloy.
French Pat. No. 72 46276 (2 211 851) discloses metal clips which are each composed of a small thin plate, of reduced length, provided with four pairs of claws which are distributed in two pairs of claws located respectively at the two opposite ends of said plate. These clips are designed to be placed on a fractured zone of a rib, two of the pairs of claws being closed on the rib on one side of the fracture and the other two pairs being closed on the other side of the same fracture.
In fact, these clips can only be used for localized fractures. Whenever there are several successive fractures of the same rib or when part of a rib is lost, or when there is considerable dislocation of the thoracic cage, the clips can no longer be used.
French Pat. No. 76 16762 (2 353 274) discloses a device designed to widen the possibilities of the claws of the first prior are mentioned hereinabove, which are limited to localized fractures. In this second prior art, use of a veritable rib splint is proposed; this splint in an elongated bar having at each of its two opposite end parts three pairs of claws integral with said bar; these claws may be closed on a rib on either side of a broken zone thereof; furthermore, individual clips are provided to be fixed to this bar in the median region located between the end pairs of claws.
It has appeared, on use, that an elongated bar provided with claws integral therewith does not enable the function of the thoracic cage, which has been badly injured as is frequently encountered in road accidents, to be reestablished.
Even by attempting to combine the clips comprising four pairs of claws of the first prior art mentioned above with the bars comprising six pairs of claws and the indivdual clips of the second prior art mentioned above, surgeons do not have at their disposal the means for reconstituting, easily and rapidly, a fractured thoracic cage which will enable it to function sufficiently well for the whole time taken for the bones to unite naturally, i.e. about 4 weeks.
It is an object of the invention to provide the necessary, sufficient means to enable surgeons to make a veritable thoracic prosthesis without difficulty, according to the morphology and needs of an accident victim, for all cases of serious accidents.
Whatever the extent and complexity of the thoracic prosthesis to be made, it is desirable that the means remain limited in number and that they be simple to manufacture and easy to use.